December 21, 2007
Yes, it is Christmas time and the dangers of entering into a crowded department store are grave and nearly certain. Such perils include (but obviously aren’t limited to) getting swept into streams of mindless bargain hunting or getting stampeded by folks on their way to grab fifty percent off mail-in-rebates. This isn’t counting the very act of parking itself as twenty cars race NASCAR style for the one available spot that’s closer than the next zip code.
Still, my family and I decided to venture a daring mission to get a gallon of milk, a gallon of orange juice, a carton of eggs, and two frozen pizzas while picking up some over the counter medicine for one of our children. After we had developed our plan of attack, I dropped off my wife and children and then proceeded to search for the fabled available parking space (which I thought surely was only a myth).
My first objective was successfully realized (eventually) and I quickly went inside to find my family at the place we had agreed on. After I found them, we implemented the next phase of the plan (to divide and conquer our list)… while she looked for the medicine (and talked to the pharmacist regarding certain questions we had about it), I and one of our sons commandeered a shopping cart and headed off into the wild lands of the grocery section. We made good time, got our milk, orange juice, eggs, and pizzas; then we headed back to the pharmacy section looking to be reunited with our beloved family members.
When we arrived, we were dismayed to find that they were… unfindable. Hmm. I knew that we hadn’t passed them by (I was allowing for that contingency by carefully scanning the faces of all the people we passed). Maybe, my son agreed, the others had gone looking for us but taken a different route to the sections we had been in previously. So… we turned around and backtracked to the dairy section. When we got there, they were still nowhere to be seen, so we advanced again more slowly to the front, deciding to just wait there… hoping that EVENTUALLY they would come to the front.
As we neared the front of the store, my son and I met a lady with whom I had worked for awhile at the university. We greeted one another and I commented that we were looking for the rest of our family. She laughed and responded with, “Is everyone lost but the two of you?”
I nodded my head solemnly, took my leave of my friend, and continued on my way to the front of the store, my son patiently plodding along beside me. Just as we arrived, I spied in the distance my wife and three other children slowly advancing to our position where we were joyfully reunited. We then proceeded to checkout and had a happy conclusion to the evening’s endeavors.
Meanwhile, the interesting comment that my former co-worker had made lingered in my mind, “Everyone’s lost but you.” Yes, I thought, it’s possible to be very lost, and yet not know it. As far as the Christmas story goes, the book of Matthew in the Bible records a very poor, wretched “king” who was tragically lost and yet could not see the hope of grace even when it stood in front of him.
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi (Wise Men) from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the One Who has been born king of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.’ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him” (Matthew 2:1-3 NIV).
Being disturbed, of course, means being unsettled. Folks usually don’t like the feeling of being unsettled because it means being thrust from that which is comfortable. It also means that whatever illusions of safety and security that they may have are in danger of being dispelled. Herod and his friends were disturbed because the tall shadow of a king worthy of worship was being cast over their petty rule. Too bad for Herod that he missed the opportunity of grace that had been extended to him.
See, being “disturbed” isn’t always a bad thing. It can rouse us to our need or the needs of others and cause us to mobilize our energies and resources to things that require action. Herod had enough “faith”, so to speak, in spiritual things to take the Word of God seriously (via the report of the chief priests and teachers of the Law in verses 4-6), yet he registers no real faith at all in the God Who spoke those Words. So enamored is he with his own supposed greatness and so accustomed is he with “eliminating threats” that instead of genuinely seeking out the Lord so that he could worship Him in spirit and in truth (see John 4:23-24), he merely feigns submission so that he may sabotage God’s plan and murder the little King of kings.
But for all his guile, strength, and (imagined) glory, Herod’s efforts prove fruitless and the plan of God marches on, undeterred and unhindered by man’s pride and self-will. Even though Herod may have been thinking in his heart, “Everyone’s lost but me; I know where I am and am happy with what I am,” he was lost. And for all the shock value that news of the newborn King inflicted upon him, he would not allow the Prince of Peace to heal his disturbed and diseased heart, seeking only to restore the small and petty happinesses that he thought that he had secured for himself.
This is a good time of year to allow those things that we find “disturbing” to have the effect of aiming us to Jesus Christ. Instead of ignoring the Word of God, writing off the accountability prescribed by it and shrugging off the promises of love and peace proclaimed by it, we must each subject ourselves to it. The central theme of the Christmas story is that Holy God sent His Son, His Love encased in human flesh, to earth in order to disturb us, shaking us free from the bondage of sin and death… a feat only made possible in the life, death, and resurrection of this amazing King Who once lay in a pile of hay in a crude stable. Of course, any time is a good time of year to respond to the grace of God. As the Lord shakes you, striving to awaken you from spiritual sleep, and you find yourself “disturbed”, remember that it may be that God is loving you into being “found”. If so, let the light of His love lead you to this King so that you too may worship Him.
(Thom Mollohan and his family have ministered in southern Ohio the past twelve years. He is the pastor of Pathway Community Church, which meets on Sunday mornings at 455 Third Avenue. He may be reached for comments or questions by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com).
